Ahmedabad: A local court has acquitted nine individuals of rioting and unlawful assembly charges related to the post-Godhra riots that broke out in the city.In this case, Madhavpura police booked 11 persons out of a 2,000-strong mob allegedly involved in stone-pelting and rioting in Madhavpura and nearby areas on May 9, 2002. Mobs of two different communities pelted stones at each other, and the police charged those arrested with unlawful assembly, rioting, etc. After over 23 years, when the trial took place against the accused persons, none of them turned up. Prosecution informed the court that two of the accused persons passed away during the pendency of the trial. Four witnesses were examined, and they told the court that they could not identify the people who were actually involved in the rioting due to the lapse of time. While acquitting the accused, additional chief judicial magistrate D J Parmar stated, “At the end of all discussions, I conclude that the prosecution has failed to demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that the accused persons unlawfully assembled on May 9, 2002, between 14.15 and 14.45 with the intent to riot in order to harm the lives and property of people of another faith, to assert dominance over them, and to incite communal tension by throwing stones...”
